NELE IVASK: Community energy helps Estonia cope in crises

Opinion article by Nele Ivask from Tartu Regional Energy Agency. 

Estonia’s energy security cannot be built only on large power plants, external interconnections and reserve capacity. An important part of it is also the ability of local communities to produce and store energy, and in the future to share it with each other.

When a power outage stops the local water supply, communication devices and the village center, the question is no longer only about the price of electricity. The question is how long a community can cope without outside help.

When we talk about energy communities, we usually get quickly to solar panels, electricity prices and energy sharing. We talk less about what happens to the community itself when people start taking more joint responsibility for their energy needs.

Resilience does not only mean being ready for a crisis. It also means the everyday ability to decide and act, and knowing that when needed, there are people, skills and resources to rely on. The more a community can cover its basic needs by itself, and the stronger its local relationships and skills are, the better it copes in an unexpected situation.

Solar panels alone are not enough

Imagine an Estonian village or a smaller settlement with homes, a school or kindergarten, a village center, a local water supply, a care home and a few businesses. Usually we do not think about how the electricity these need reaches them. Electricity is simply there. During an outage, however, the question quickly becomes which services must be kept running first.

If electricity is produced locally, it can be stored, and the system can work at least partly during a general grid outage, the community can keep the most essential services going. The goal does not have to be a full continuation of normal life. What may matter is, for example, ensuring the water supply, charging communication devices, or keeping running a building where people can gather.

The mere presence of solar panels does not guarantee electricity during an outage. For that, the system must be designed accordingly. It may need storage capacity, control systems and the ability to separate part of the local system from the general grid. That is why, when designing an energy community, it is necessary to ask not only about production capacity but also about what you want to do with the locally produced energy during a crisis.

Cooperation skills are as important as technology

Technology is still only one part of an energy community. People must agree on what to do together, who is responsible for what, how to share costs and benefits, and how to resolve disagreements. In the process, the community learns something that cannot be measured in kilowatts or euros: acting together. The first community cooperative solar parks in Estonia, recently built in Obinitsa and Kääpa as part of the EU-funded cooperation project StartSun, show this well.

The Obinitsa energy community was completed in spring 2026. A functioning community already existed there before the solar panels. People knew each other, were used to acting together, and local energy production became the next shared step.

In Kääpa village in Jõgeva County, the path was more winding. The original plans had to be changed and progress made in smaller steps. The Kääpa energy community will be completed just before the StartSun final conference on 22 September. The experience of both communities shows that a technically good solution is not enough if trust, leaders and a willingness to share responsibility are missing.

In a crisis, previous experience of cooperation can be just as valuable as a solar plant on the roof. People know whom to turn to, what skills are available locally and how to make decisions quickly.

Energy security can also be built from the bottom up

At the moment, there are few energy communities in Estonia. If dozens emerge in different regions, and hundreds in the future, they will form a network of distributed local energy capacity. Not every community has to be able to do everything. What matters is that in different places it is possible to keep at least some service needed by the region running.

When talking about energy security, we usually think of power plants, interconnections, grids and reserve capacity. These remain essential. But local producers, storage options and energy communities can complement a strong electricity grid. If one part of the system does not work, another can cover at least part of the needs.

This does not mean that hundreds of fully independent energy islands should be built in Estonia. The goal is to reduce situations where a community depends during a crisis on only one solution or on help arriving from far away. The combined effect of many local capabilities strengthens regions and, through them, the whole country.

The next step is energy sharing

The possibilities of energy communities remain limited if locally produced electricity cannot be used where it is needed most at a given moment. That is why Estonia needs a clear and functioning energy sharing framework, understandable requirements and solutions that support the emergence of local initiatives. Work on improving energy sharing options is already under way, and the Electricity Market Act currently being updated could create better preconditions for it than before.

An energy community is not only a new way to produce electricity. It helps people decide together, share responsibility and prepare for situations where usual systems temporarily do not work. Resilience does not mean a guarantee that nothing will happen. It means the ability to keep functioning in a changed situation.

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